Evening Star Newspaper, February 2, 1930, Page 99

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FEBRUARY 2, 1930. 17 - “YOU'RE OUT"—And Then the Alibis! Just a Natural Weakness Indulged in by All to Protest a Decision and Offer All Kinds of Excuses. Yet, in Defeat, Your Average Base Ball Player Displays T'rue Sportsmanship; Here the Popular Umpire Tells a Base Ball Yarn That Will Interest All the Fans for 1930. N every game on the calendar sports- manship has its moments. In base ball it crops up hundreds of times. On the other hand, players have used in its is the foundation of ‘They hate to be called out on close decision at first base that as a base knock. the weak alike step up old pan, take a couple of balls, foul a alley” somehow or other, but the nature of a ball player to alibi in hustles away from the plate, hoping that he can beat the fielder’s peg to the bag. He puts his all into that dash, An infield hit means as much in the records as a drive against the fence. On close plays at first base the umpire is all set for a decision. The ball arrives a fraction of a second ahead of the runner. Taking his last step for the bag, he will often yell at the top of his voice, *“No! No! No!” meaning that the ball did not beat him. “Yer out!” from the umpire, " 'Then the fun starts on the bench. The run- ner’s teammates take up his fight for him. *“You were safe, kid, but old Blind Tom hasn’t called one right for a month.” Or one of the will hand the umpire this one: “Get out your cup and dog and I'll get you a pair of sun glasses. As an umpire you are a perfect blind man.” Umpires are not always correct in their de- ecisions. Neither are all the ball players using the umpire as an alibl. There are any num- ber of players in the American and National Leagues who register protests on decisions only when they feel they have a kick coming, The type of player on whom the umpire bears down and watches most is the fellow who will handshake, josh and kid before a game or when everything is going smoothly, but when the old pinch comes, the tight spot, he will throw the umpire down to protect himself by pulling the alibi. There is one player on the A's for whom I have a great deal of respect. His honesty in & tough situation once saved my neck from the angry mob. Yes, sir, I'll take Joe Boley’s word any time. And that goes for the pinches, too. The Baltimore Orioles, led by the late Jack Dunn, won seven straight pennants in the In- ternational League. Joe Boley held down shorte stop in all seven seasons. I umpired five years in that circuit. I will never forget the 1921 season. The Orioles closed the year with 25 consecutive victories. Prior to this string of wins they were going great guns, winning about 8 out of every 10 games. Jack Dunn loved to win. He would have been glad if his team won every game on the schedule, despite the fact that attendance at his park was decreasing with every victory scored by his team. The Buffalo club, led by George Wiltse, old Glant pitcher and first base-~ man, was playing a Sunday date at Oriole Park. The home team held a 3-to-2 lead when Buffalo came in for its last turn at bat. With one out, Gilhooley, Keating and Sheri- dan filled the bases with a walk and two in- field singles. The Baltimore infield played tn in hopes of cutting off the run at the plate. Ed Barney slashed a wicked drive between third base and shortstop. It appeared to be a When the ball hit Boley's glove and he fell the ground, his body covered from sight the Many of the fierce argu- ments between players and the umpire are started by a runner’s pro- test against a close decision. He seeks an alibi at the umpirc’s ex- pense. is not over yet, boys,” g that ball” “You're crazy, you're out of your head!” Baltimore players were howling as they ran each other, carrying the news allow Boley’s catch. . Jack Dunn, leading about out on the field, came up demanded to know what the reason was for me mmhckonmefleldvhenenrybodyhm ball park knew the game was over. Dunn went up in the air, wa: BY UMPIRE “BILL’> McGOWAN. think anybody in the ba]l park saw it but the umpire who called it.” When the smoke had cleared Buffalo had runners on first and second, the score was tied and two were out. The man who was on sec- ond was forced out at third when Boley tossed ' the ball to Maisel, The next hitter, Don Donaldson, hit the left- field fence and cleared the bases with a triple, Baltimore went out in order in its half. Policallf, officers saw me to my dressing room. When I broke into the American League as ' an umpire in 1925, Johnny Mostil, great little outfielder of the Chicago White Sox, was com- ing into his own as a real star. The Washington Senators were playing at Comiskey Park on a Sunday. It was midsea- son and my first visit to Chicago. The score was tied at 4-all in the sixth inning, with Mostil on second base. I was working at third.- Johnny was getting a nice lead off second. With the pitch he was off for third. Muddy’ Ruel, catching for the Senators, heaved the ball to third a trifle ahead of the runner. Ossie Bluege recelved the peg and stabbed at- Mostil as he slid for the bag. I called Mostil out. The moment my hand want into the air, indicating he was declared out, I felt I had made a mistake. . The crowd in the stands were on their toes, waiting for a tip from Mostil before handing' me a rousing jeer. Mostil jumped to his feet, brushed the dust from his pants and went to the bench without looking at me. That was a funny spot to be in for an um- pire. I called the fellow ,out, but my second guess was that Bluege had missed him. Stil, the runner didn’t say a word. He surely would have told me I booted the play if I WAaS: wrong. - Maybe, I thought to myself, Bluege did nip him, after all. The crowd did not boo me, as they surely would have done had Mostil as much as glanced at me. Two tined to fill Tris Speaker’s shoes as the cham- pion fly-chaser, but whom fate seemed to block, passed third base on his way to the dugout. Coming close, he said quietly: “Mac, you missed that play on me at third base. Bluege hasn't touched me yet.” His remark stunned me. ° That was a fine bit of sportsmanship, and I'll never forget Johnny Mostil for it. Incidentally, Mostil would have been the greatest little outfielder of all time, I believe, but at the height of his career, while the team was in training at Shreveport, La., an unfor- tunate tragedy occurred, wherein Johnny in- sanely tried to dispose of his life. The base early in July, Johnny made of the most spectacular catches seen in the pastures Navin Pield for years. The next day Mostil scored on a hit from Continued on Twenty-first Page. {u YA lnnlngslatcrtheboywhoseemeddes”